Peek v. Reserve Nat'l Ins. Co

In Peek v. Reserve Nat'l Ins. Co., 585 So. 2d 1303 (Ala. 1991), . . . the Court affirmed a summary judgment in favor of the insurer on the insured's bad faith claim, concluding that a doctor's reports indicating that the ovarian cyst had existed for over a year before the effective date of coverage constituted an 'arguable or debatable reason' for denying the insurance claim, notwithstanding the insurer's failure to deliver an insurance certificate containing the exclusion. 585 So. 2d at 1309. ... "Because the existence of a debatable reason for denying coverage is to be tested based upon the materials before the insurer at the time the claim is denied, and no later, and because the materials submitted to IAC before Simmons's claim was denied on September 21, 1994, indicated the existence of such a debatable reason, we conclude that the trial court properly entered the summary judgment in favor of Congress on Simmons's bad faith claim. That portion of the trial court's judgment is due to be affirmed."